I only got $9.70. Oh we'll that covers my next book at least. :)

:iagree:

I'm thankful for pretty much everything in my life. If you'd told me this would be my life 5 years ago I would've laughed in your face. After a bad marriage and a rebound relationship I have the most amazing husband who works hard and takes wonderful care of us, he treats me like a queen. I have a fat, healthy little toddler that lights up my life, and two big kids that thank me regularly for mothering and schooling them. Even though I don't always love living in Hawaii, yesterday we got to take a field trip to Hanauma Bay and snorkel and see a real coral reef, and that's just awesome. After never having gone on a real vacation in my life, my husband took me to Italy for our honeymoon, we are going to the big island in May (it's a volcano, so it's a field trip right?!) and then Thailand in October. Going from poverty, no health insurance, a husband who didn't like to work, to this... is like I'm living someone else's life. I will confess though, that sometimes I feel so undeserving and like it's not fair that I'm this happy, it's very unsettling sometimes, it brings me to tears regularly.

Nope, that wouldn't do anything for me either. I try to get a couple hours a week but sometimes it's broken up. That is hands down the hardest/worst part about homeschooling, very little alone time and constant conversations/questions.

Usually a pedicure or manicure, either home or at a salon, shopping, sometimes a nap. Have fun!

I had a run in with their church (presumably-the signs were the same), they were protesting a famous New Orleans gay parade. All the LGBTQ just ignored them, but for some reason I am unable to ignore things. They told me to get back in the kitchen where I belonged, at the time I was active duty Air Force. It was the only time I have ever drawn back to actually hit a person, I completely gave the guy what he wanted. I like the idea of donating to those he dedicated his life to persecuting, I think I will. Good riddance Fred. He makes me wish I believed in hell. I grew up in the LGBTQ community and his type of hateful speech is the reason I hid my dad's homosexuality for years after he came out.

Yuck! This disgusts me on so many levels. I sure wish religious people didn't have that hyper-focus on sexuality and young girls. Sex and morality are not innately tied together. When I was a Christian I always felt so much guilt for actions of my past, when I became an atheist I realized that those particular actions had little to do with who I am, though they taught me some valuable lessons. I want my kids to wait until they are mature, responsible, and ready, but it also want them have healthy, happy sex lives when that time comes, without guilt. Tying all that together in such a perverse way almost absolutely ensures future sex issues, guilt, frustration, etc. It also seems to set up an easy out for if daddy happens to be a pervert.

I have found pineapple and watermelon to relieve water weight.

I enlisted and served four years, got out due to some medical issues and have used my GI Bill to fund my education. The new GI Bill is quite amazing and can fully fund a bachelors degree. I also took quite a few classes while I was active duty and got two AA/AS during that time. I don't know much about the guard but I have never regretted my service, and my husband is still active duty and plans to remain that way. With the drawdown though there aren't a lot of options for jobs in the active duty world, they are getting rid of many people right now through early retirement and forced separations, which means that deployments for those remaining and for guard/reserve members could increase. Good luck!

We have done Ancient Rome, Natural Disasters, and started Constitutional Government. Ancient Rome was great, we really immersed ourselves for about six weeks and learned a lot, I used it in conjunction with SOTW. Natural disasters was sluggish, a little boring and had quite a few broken links. Constitutional Government has been pretty good so far, we stopped it though because it made sense to me to save that for when we move to Maryland because we can really tie it in to field trips and activities as opposed to here in Hawaii. Overall, I like them. I wish they had more activities but I can usually find something with a quick search.

That is so pretty!

That is awesome. :)

My sil has an MSW, her BA was in psychology and done mostly online but the MSW was a full time commitment at a university with lots of field work and internships. She now works for a non-profit helping kids/teens transition from foster care to independent living. She really likes it and finds it satisfying, she has some flexibility with her hours but she makes very little, which is pretty common in that field. Good luck.

We did one in February, I highly recommend reading the entire book first. Our results were amazing and we are continuing on a mostly paleo lifestyle now. Since January 27 I have lost 13 pounds and dh is down about 15 pounds, we are both working out more and he has drastically improved his military fitness scores. It has been really wonderful for us. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I used to not cook lunch or dinner, now I have to cook nearly all meals. Good luck!

We enjoy board games (he'd love it if I was into video games), hiking, movies, going for walks or drives, swimming at the beach or pool or water park, we have memberships to a bunch of places (zoo, museum, water park, etc) we go to frequently. We love being together and do almost everything as a family. ETA: We also volunteer at homeless shelter every month with the kids and he helps me cook many nights.

We are in Hawaiii so no seasons but our house still needs a good, deep cleaning. Dh let me hire someone though. I'm great at maintaining a clean house, I just cannot seem to get to the deeper stuff. She comes tomorrow and I'm super excited. :)

Both of mine did the 7 Wonders class in January and loved it. I thought it was a little light on the actual lessons, but it taught them to think a little more about following directions and such. I just signed them up for Castles and Cannons, and will probably do the Master Chef class next. It's inexpensive enough that even if they aren't learning a ton, I think it has enough value to continue doing it.

Thanks so much! I'll look into all the suggestions. :)

My 3rd grader seems to have an issue memorizing her math facts. We are doing Singapore 3A and she is doing fine with it, but she still seems to need to skip-count for multiplication and use her fingers for addition and subtraction much of the time. We've tried doing drills and math fact apps but it just doesn't seem to stick with her. Any ideas?

Math - Singapore 5A & 5B Khan Academy Life of Fred Balance Benders Level 1 Language Arts - Learning Language Through Literature Level 5?? Critical Thinking Company Editor in Chief B1 Word Roots A2 Think Analogies B1 Spelling Workout History - Story of the World Ancients Science - Mr. Q Life Science - 1st Semester SiaNS - Crystal Creations Energy & Motion A Peak Inside You Body Basics Weather Wise Water Cycle Typing - Type to Learn 4 - $30 Latin/Foreign Language - Lively Latin Social Studies - You Decide! - $26 Trail Guide to World Geography & CD - $40 Logic - Fallacy Detective Art - ?? PE - Football Swim Group PE Well, several months later and we are doing pretty much none of that. I'm going to update in a new post.

Math - Singapore Khan Academy Life of Fred Balance Math & More Level 2 Language Arts - Learning Language Through Literature Level 4?? Handwriting Without Tears Spelling Workout History - Story of the World - Ancients Science - Mr. Q Life Science - Finishing up SiaNS - Crystal Creations Energy & Motion A Peak Inside You Body Basics Weather Wise Water Cycle Latin/Foreign Language - Duolingo - Spanish Social Studies - Trail Guide to World Geography & CD Arts - Music Theory III - Connect the Thoughts Meet the Great Composers Jazz Class Piano Lessons

Thank you! That's pretty much what I needed to know, maybe I'll buy one or two and just use them for fun. We already do Mindbenders and the kids like those, so we'll just keep on using their stuff as supplementary/extra.

Has anyone used the Critical Thinking Company complete curricula? I love the idea of it but I'm on the fence. Link: http://www.criticalthinking.com/book-bundle-gr-6.html

I probably wear makeup six days a week, I voted full face, but my full face can vary from tinted moisturizer/mascara/blush, to a full-full face of everything. That depends on my mood. I wear it because I like it, I think it's fun to play with and I have tons of it. My dh would not notice or care if I never wore it again and I feel fine without it and will go out without it. I just enjoy it. :)

It really depends on my mood, but I voted yoga pants. Comfort is most important in our house and no one is ever "dressed" unless they're just about to leave or just got home. Most days I'll wear decent looking active wear pants/capris and a tank top, sometimes a fold top cotton skirt. Recently I started working out as soon as school is over for the day, like 3-3:30, so I'll be showered and in comfies when he gets home, assuming we aren't going anywhere. I put on makeup almost every day though. He doesn't care in the least, he didn't even own a pair of nice pants until a year after we met and were going on vacation in Vegas and I made him go shopping, he takes casual to a whole new level. :)